Catheters are commonly used to insert and remove fluids, such as medication and/or blood to and from the bloodstream of a patient. A catheter typically includes a connection point, such as a hub, that remains exterior of the patient after the catheter is inserted into the patient, and is used to secure the catheter to the patient to reduce the likelihood of the catheter being accidentally dislodged from the patient.
After the catheter is installed, the catheter hub is typically fixedly connected to the patient's skin, such as by suturing the hub directly to the skin. To facilitate this suturing, the hub typically includes a pair of loops, or suture wings, that extend laterally from the hub through which sutures may be passed. The sutures secure the suture wings to the surface of the patient's skin, securing the hub to the patient and restricting the ability of the hub to move relative to the patient.
However, such suturing produces skin penetration that may lead to infection in the patient. Others have developed adhesive-based structures for securing a catheter to the external skin of the patient. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,192,274; 5,456,671; 5,637,098; 5,702,371; 6,491,664; and 6,572,588, that all disclose various configurations of securing a catheter or catheter hub on a base structure, with a face of the base structure incorporating an adhesive to secure the catheter to the patient's skin without piercing the skin, such as with sutures.
Certain catheters, such as the SPLIT STREAM® catheter sold by Medical Components, Inc. of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, include a catheter ingrowth cuff that is subcutaneously implanted during catheter insertion. A removable hub is connected to the catheter and is intended to remain connected to the catheter only until subcutaneous skin tissue has had time to grow into the cuff to secure the cuff and the catheter subcutaneously. After the cuff is subcutaneously secured, it is preferred to remove the hub from the catheter, to alleviate any patient discomfort that may be caused by the hub rubbing against the skin.
It would be beneficial to provide a securing device that would releasably retain the hub for a catheter against the patient's skin without the need for suturing the hub to the skin.